Reto Ringger
Head of Investment Committee
„We have a great vision, which we are dedicated to.“
RETOS BACKGROUND
Reto Ringger is the founding father of Globalance Bank. Giving birth to companies and raising them judiciously lies in his blood. Already in 1995 he founded SAM Group, which focuses it efforts on impact-oriented investments. The great success of SAM vouched for his pioneering spirit: in 2008, Reto Ringger sold this prospering asset management company to the Robeco Group.
While SAM Group works only with institutional investors, Globalance Bank under Reto Ringger’s leadership also enables private clients to invest in forward-looking companies and related financial products.
With Ringger at the helm, SAM rose to become a globally leasing provider of sustainable investments. It launched in 1997 the world’s first investment fund devoted solely to sustainability. Later, in cooperation with Dow Jones & Company, SAM introduced the very first stock index for sustainable investments and, in 2001, the Group introduced the first private equity fund in the area of cleantech. Reto Ringger knows all the ins and outs of the investment banking world by having worked in this field already at various renowned financial institutions such as Swiss Re, UBS and Bank Vontobel.
Reto Ringger has received numerous awards for his entrepreneurial successes. Two examples: the Global Green Award from Green Cross International (www.gcint.org) for the launch of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index – and the Cleantech Pioneer Award (www.cleantech.com) for the successful establishment of the world’s first globally positioned cleantech private equity fund.
Reto Ringger holds a degree in economics (lic. oec. publ.) from the University of Zurich. He is member of the Club of Rome (www.clubofrome.org) and from 2012 – 2018 he was a member of the Executive Committee. Moreover he was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of WWF Switzerland (www.wwf.ch) from 2012 – 2016.
In July 2019 the International University in Geneva (IUG) has awarded Reto Ringger an honorary doctorate for his extraordinary achievements and numerous innovations in the field of sustainable investments.
„It was back in June 1997 when we at our young firm came up with the idea of initiating a sustainability stock index. I then flew to New York in the hope of convincing our preferred partner, Dow Jones, of the merits of this idea. I’ll never forget the joy I felt when that hope was fulfilled. From a mere idea came a tremendous success that has extended to this very day, 17 years after it was just a twinkle in our team’s eye. Now we have another great idea that we’re devoting all our efforts to. Today, Dow Jones is not our business partner, but for that we have a wide array of private investors, foundations and family offices.“
